Recent quality problems have led to many recalls of products in the automotive as well as in the food and pharmaceutical industries, among others. Consequences have been often dramatic, both from a human and financial point of view. QRQC (Quick Response Quality Control) is a major innovation in the field of Quality management. It is combining management and attitude in order to solve in a simple and logical way most of the production and functional problems. Valeo, one of the world leading equipment suppliers has been using QRQC for over 10 years. QRQC had allowed the Valeo Group to change its quality measurement scale from PPM (Parts Per Million) to PPB (Parts Per Billion). The QRQC approach relies on two pillars : The San Gen Shugi attitude, based on the "3 real" principle which aims at going to the "real place" (Gen-ba), with the "real parts" (Gen-bustu) and the real data/facts (Gen-jitsu) ; .A management activity composed of 4 steps : Detection, Communication, Analysis and Verification.

We all know that American business needs fixing, and there is no shortage of prescriptions: imitate the Japanese, or follow the example of successful firms, or practice right-sizing. But these approaches do not work very well, says Russell Ackoff, because they only attack the problem piecemeal--and it is the entire system of American business that is flawed. In this revolutionary new book by a widely respected business thinker and pioneer in the fields of operations research and systems thinking, Ackoff underscores the urgent need to overhaul the kinds of systems found in America, from our business schools to our boardrooms. And he shows how firms can break out of the mold--and leapfrog the competition in today's volatile economy. To give managers insight into the concept of organizations, Ackoff shows how they have been viewed since the Renaissance: first as machines, later as organisms, and today as social systems. As social systems, companies produce and distribute wealth and raise our standard of living. They are also responsible for facilitating and encouraging the development of the larger systems that contain them and all their stakeholders. The quality of worklife within an organization is key. Work has to be challenging and enjoyable if workers are to give it their full commitment, and Ackoff outlines major ways to achieve this goal. Along the way, Ackoff explodes a number of fashionable business notions. He asserts that firms that try to imitate successful competitors are doomed to play catch-up forever. He attacks the idea of continuous improvement, showing that it has failed to make quantum leaps in quality, and he demonstrates how to re-orient the pursuit of quality. After revealing the weakness in many current practices, Ackoff describes three organizational schemes that will lead to success. In the Circular Organization, a democratic hierarchy, everyone participates directly or indirectly in decisions that affect their work. In the Internal Market Economy, organizations treat their different parts like a collection of firms doing business with each other--which promotes cooperation and eliminates wasteful internal competition. And with the Multidimensional Organization, a company becomes so powerful and flexible that continuous adaptation can happen without reorganization. Ackoff caps off the book with an incisive critique of business schools, describing how they must be transformed to turn out the leaders we need for the competitive American organization of the 21st century. Enabling managers to understand the profound interrelationships in the American economy and to tap into them for success, The Democratic Corporation is a major work by an innovative thinker that is certain to cause ripples throughout the business community.

The purpose of this book is to question the relationships involved in decision making and the systems designed to support it: decision support systems (DSS). The focus is on how these systems are engineered; to stop and think about the questions to be asked throughout the engineering process and, in particular, about the impact designers’ choices have on these systems.

In a world where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge. The best companies survive by consistently creating new knowledge, disseminating it widely throughout the organization, and quickly leveraging it in their business processes and their products. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Ikujiro Nonaka shows how your company can exploit its knowledge to continually innovate and reinvent itself in the face of relentless change. Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough management ideas-many of which still speak to and influence us today. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers readers the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world-and will have a direct impact on you today and for years to come.

In Can Japan Compete?, world-renowned competition strategist Michael Porter and his colleagues explain why American assumptions about Japan have proved so inaccurate, what Japan must do to regain its strength, and what its journey can tell us about how to succeed in the new global economy.The research behind this book began in the early 1990s, at a time when Japan's economic success was overwhelmingly credited to the Japanese government and its unique management policies. Porter and his colleagues started by asking a crucial but previously overlooked question: If Japanese government policies and practices accounted for the nation's extraordinary competitiveness, then why wasn't Japan competitive in many of the industries where those policies had been prominently implemented? The authors and a team of colleagues surveyed a vast array of Japanese industries. This surprising book is the result of their work. The continuing influence of Japanese government and management strategies worldwide makes Can Japan Compete? a must read for anyone competing in the global economy.

According to Michel Serres, a process of 'hominescence' has taken place throughout human history. Hominescence can be described as a type of adolescence; humanity in a state of growing, a state of constant change, on the threshold of something unpredictable. We are destined never to be the same again but what will does the future hold? In this innovative and passionately original work of philosophy, Serres describes the future of man as an adolescence, transitioning from childhood to adulthood, or luminescence, when a dark body becomes light. After considering the radical changes that humanity has experienced over the last fifty years, Serres analyzes the new relationship of man has with diverse concepts, like the dead, his own body, agriculture, and new communication networks. He alerts us to the consequences of these changes, particularly on the danger of growing inequalities between rich and poor countries. Should we rejoice in the future, ignore it, or even dread it? Unlike other philosophers who preach doom and gloom, Serres wants us to anticipate the uncertain light of the future.

Praise for Strategic Capitalism “Richard D’Aveni understands that managing competition between the United States and China—and their quite different forms of capitalism—will occupy leaders on both sides of the Pacific for decades to come and will shape the first half of the 21st century more than any other factor. This book is a welcome addition to a vitally important debate.” —Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and author of Every Nation for Itself “Understanding the pluses and minuses of modern ‘capitalism,’ in more than a sloganeering way, is the great challenge for corporations and for government from North America to Europe to East Asia. Strategic Capitalism is a valuable contribution to clear thinking about this imperative.” —James Fallows, The Atlantic, and author of China Airborne “Professor D’Aveni is a business provocateur extraordinaire. He tells you the straight scoop and will never cave to conventional wisdom unless there is proof that it is right. Strategic Capitalism is another example of D’Aveni’s ability to synthesize a complex topic down to its key elements.” —Bill Achtmeyer, Founder, Chairman, and Managing Partner of The Parthenon Group The Capitalist Cold War Has Begun The United States and its economic allies are under attack by a force unlike any they have ever faced. China and other emerging nations are competing for markets around the world using their own versions of capitalism—and, thus far, they are winning handily. In Strategic Capitalism, one of the world’s leading authorities on global business strategy, Richard D’Aveni, describes how the “economic cold war” began, how it is being played out now, and how the West can change the course of events in its favor. Brilliantly conceived—and sure to ignite passions on both sides of the political aisle— Strategic Capitalism calls for an end to the economic idealism that dominates the national dialog. It also calls for a cold, hard focus on reality, which is this: government-managed capitalist systems consistently outmaneuver and outperform the traditional laissez-faire capitalism of the West. With refreshing levels of thoroughness, knowledge, and detachment, D’Aveni describes the competitive landscape today. These are the facts: The world’s best competitors—with China in the lead—have adopted elements of managed capitalism, in which government and businesses work together toward a single aim. China’s objective is clear—to displace the United States as the world’s economic leader by becoming the global rule maker. If the West does not act soon, it stands to lose everything it holds most dear: financial prosperity, economic freedom, geopolitical power, national security, and even democratic values. This is disruptive innovation on a global scale. But instead of companies using breakthrough products and brands to gain market share, nations are devising “game-changing” economic systems to seize influence over—and beyond—the global economy. Bleak as the situation may be, D’Aveni contends that the West can reverse the trends currently tilting the global balance of power. In order to meet the challenges of the future, America must revisit long-held assumptions about economics and economies, seriously consider radical alternative policies, and embrace the concept of Strategic Capitalism.